Cold Night In The Cemetery
by blacquesironrain
Summary: Two strangers meet by chance on a snowy night in an old cemetery; they have more in common than a love for the night, because things are not always as they appear to be…and what about the enemy that wants them both dead? Starting as OroNaru...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

**Rating: M for Mature Only**

**Warning: If you don't like don't read! All others enjoy thy self… ;)**

**A/N: This story has been edited some…so I'm truly sorry to all who read the other one…that one happened to be my draft…sorry…This is a story that has parts that may be familiar for some and not to others.**

**Summary: **Two strangers meet by chance on a snowy night in an old cemetery; they have more in common than a love for the night, because things are not always as they appear to be…and what about the enemy that wants them both died?

_****_

_**Cold Night In The Cemetery…**_

_**Finding love is easy…Finding true love takes a lifetime…**_

**Chapter 1**

Moonlight lay in silver slabs across the crisp powder, pieces of light cut by the bars of the iron cemetery gate. Naru, a beautiful young gypsy woman stood in the ankle deep snow; her long hair danced in the light of the moon as the wind whipped it about. Her long skirt dragging across the pure white leaving evidences of her visit. Naru turns her face to the beckoning lunar goddess, letting its sweet illuminating light wash over her, feeling the promises of the night. She smiles. The cold was severe for this early in December, but yet they were like old friends; familiar in everyway. Even now with only the thin blouse that clung loosely to her skin was the only barrier between her and the night's bitterness, although the cold did not trouble her. Naru was content. This night had been good to her; peaceful, and secure. The cold kept lesser men at bay, safe in their simple home, but _**her**_ true home was all the wide range of the forbidden night.

She was a _**Gypsy**_ after all, so blessing the cold and blessing her luck; which Gypsies were great believers in luck. With luck, she might rest here for a time, undetected. With luck, the cold would hold hard enough to drive people indoors, but not hard enough to kill. No matter how much she hated them, Naru would not have any of the local villagers die-not while she still needed their graveyard as a safe haven. With luck, the peasant folk would not discover her hiding place among their tombstones for many days yet. When they did…

'They _**will**_ run me off.' she thought 'They always run off the Gypsies. It does not matter. They have done worse.'

_**Memories: A Time Not Forgotten…**_

Naru looked across an endless sea of marigolds that danced and swayed in the spring breeze. The aroma of the flowers was intoxicating to the young woman's nose and the golden sight was heavenly to her sparkling blue orbs; all she wanted to do was lay in the field of radiant sunshine that was beneath her feet. She walked farther into the pasture of flowers not noticing the lustful eyes that watched her like a hawk. A group of young men from the nearby village was out hunting when they saw Naru alone in the field and decided to have some _**fun**_ with the pretty gypsy. Hell, no one would care if a gypsy girl was raped; if anything they would probably praise the young men for teaching the gypsy trash a lesson and where she was on the social ladder; at the bottom.

Naru was lost in the amazement of the scene before her when she felt a strange arm wrap around her body and a calloused hand covered her mouth. She could hear laughter from behind her as she struggles in the powerful embrace of the bastard holding her. She could smell the stench of brandy on the man's breath as his hand snaked down to her breast. She could feel his manhood poking through her cotton skirt as he grinds into her indicating what his intentions were. Naru could feel the sickening presence of the other men around her and their mocking laughter as the man holding her spun her around to face him. He was a tall slim man, in his mid to late twenties, with very pale skin, long black hair and haunting yellow eyes almost like a snake or a wolf. He possessed an unusually long tongue as well as he demonstrated to Naru's disgust by flicking it out and licking her smooth cheek.

"Mmmm." whispered the bastard snake in human form, "You taste good, gypsy whore."

Brandy permeated the air as the men surrounded the young woman, her stomach becomes tight and she felt the acidity taste of vile wanting to creep up her throat. Naru could not let them have their way with her for she knew once they were done with raping her, that they would probably kill her. Naru knew that the man would not be punished for killing what the village saw as another fowl creature that was the embodiment of sin in their simple misguided minds.

"Get your scaly snake hands off me!" Naru yelled as she kneed the yellow eyed man in his crotch, "Keep them to yourself!"

The man grabs his newly crush nuts and cries out in pain. Tears come to his eyes as he falls to his knees; hissing and cursing the blond gypsy with every fiber of his being. Another man with two red dots on his forehead grabs the girl by her golden locks; while another one with long white hair pulled back in a pony tail and glasses runs to help the other man on the ground up. The black haired man glares at the blond, but it is soon replaced by a sinister smile; causing Naru's blood to run colder than ice. He approaches her and traces the back of his fingers down the side of her lovely cheek, causing Naru to tense from the contact for his touch was as icy as his smile. Chills ran unmercifully through her whole body, she could not control the shivers that made their presence known to the wicked man in front of her.

"I see I've got you attention, little fox." he hissed like a viper in her ear, "Do you want to play rough?"

"Don't touch me!" Naru shouted and spat in the man's face, "Stay away from me, you filthy viper!"

Wiping the spit from his face, the man smirked at the gypsy girl which made her cringe; she knew the meaning behind the smile, and that disturbing look in his yellow eyes; the look of desire; the look of lust. The village crude wanted her body; her innocence, and this unholy man was going to take it one way or another.

"Dear sweet girl." his breath laced with liquor, "Do you know that I am the '_**favored son' **_of The Hidden Village? I can do what ever I want to that taunt body of yours and get away with it…no one cares for _**Gypsy Trash**_ such as you."

Naru knew exactly who these dirty bastards were. The dark haired snake was Orochimaru, the white haired one with glasses was Kabuto, and last was the taller white haired man with the two center dots on his forehead was Kimimaro. Naru had heard of these terrible men; she had heard of there exploits with many of the young gypsies; women and men; she had heard that some of the unfortunate victims never recovered or ever return once the evil bastards had got a hold of them. She knew all too well that his words were very true; no one would care that these _**monsters**_ would rape and kill her; they considered her the infectious disease that plague their holy village; she was the monster in their hate filled eyes; not them.

Orochimaru grabs Naru's chin roughly; directing her attention back to him. He forces his mouth onto her full soft lips; licking them with his slimy tongue earning a whimper from the now scared young blond. Long fingers slid up her blouse, touching her perfectly flat stomach; making their way to her covered breast and stopping at the nipples. Orochimaru smirked into the kiss; Naru glares at him, she knew this horror; it was all too familiar to her; she had seen it on the face of her sister when men like these bastards came to the gypsy camp when she was a young child. _**Disgusting human**_; yet she was considered the monster; the unclean one; a sin in the eyes of their god. She felt the snake's hand cup her breast; squeezing and pinching her nipples to make them hard. Opening her mouth to protest his sleazy advances; Naru trembled and her eyes tear up as the snake's slimy appendage slips its way into parted lips, almost gagging the poor girl. His nasty tongue savors the sweet taste of the blond beauty; deepening the kiss and drinking in her innocence, but not without a fight from the ball of fire.

Naru kicks Kimimaro in the knee dislocating the bone at its joint causing the ivory tower to come crashing down taking the gypsy girl with him, but not bringing her fully down; the man's face went grim from the pain that followed from another blow to his damaged knee. A loud cracking sound proceeded the previous; this time around breaking the bone in half causing him to release the girl. Kabuto, who happened to be Kimimaro's younger brother by two years, run to his now fallen brother to defend him against a treacherous being; seeing how she had hurt the '_**favored son**_' of The Hidden Village. This filthy bitch dares to do such a thing and to them no less? (Twisted thinking from the mind of a genius.)

"You'll pay for that, you fucking dirty gypsy whore!" Kabuto yelled and charged at the smirking girl.

"Not today, you lowlife bastards!" Naru readied her self for the approaching man's attack, "You _**will**_ regret messing with this gypsy girl!"

"You're nothing but trash," Kabuto hissed as he came closer, "and the trash needs to be taken out!"

Using his anger and stupidity to her advantage, Naru turns Kabuto's own attack back on him; flipping the man over her shoulder which sends his head crashing to the ground; causing his neck to snap; paralyzing him instantly. Naru had succeeded in defeating two of her would be attackers, but the snake would not be as easy to beat; hopefully she could at least slow him down enough to get back to the others, but hope was not enough to bring the snake to his belly. Her brothers, Pein (18) and Kyuubi (19); who were excellent fighters; had been teaching her to fight because they did not want Naru (16 at the time) to be helpless unlike their sister, Sakura (17, who was raped and murdered), if the foolish villagers attacked them and they were not around to protect her.

They were doing all of this secretly so that her papa and mama the 2nd royal family of _**The High Council of the Gypsy Order**_ (which is broken down into six great tribes) would not be upset that their only living daughter was out acting like a crazy person frightening off any potential suitors. Naru had become a great fighter; at first on equal terms with Pein and Kyuubi, then finally surpassing them on many levels, equal only to her father; the strongest and most skilled warrior in The High Council.

Now though, she was in a predicament; along with the worse of the worse; Orochimaru, The Hidden Village's best fighter. Naru's whole being started to shake, not from the slippery serpent's eerie aura, but his reputation as one of the best; from the thrill of being able to fight one of the best fighters besides her brothers, which she had beaten many times, becoming a top fighter second only to her father (secretly mind you) in the High Council (unbeknownst to them; they were stuck in the old ways were women were not considered warriors, but baby makers like her mother) she wanted to test her skills against such a warrior.

"I'm going to love beating you're low-life ass across this field." Naru said through gritted teeth, "You will be joining your comrades on the ground in a moment."

"First off, I don't play fair, princess." Orochimaru smirked as he walked over to the fallen men on the ground; he pulls out a dagger and plunges into Kimimaro's heart; watching the light dim in his eyes. Then he moves to Kabuto and slashes his throat; listening to the sound of the boy gurgling for his last breath, "Second, obliviously you're mistaken by placing me in the same category as these weaklings that litter the ground at your feet; they are only pawns, nothing more."

Naru was shocked at what she saw and even more so by his cold words; she could not believe her ears as the pale man's words hissed in her head, '_only pawns'. _How could this disgusting being be The Hidden Village's '_**favored son?'**_ His men laid at his feet; beaten and broken, by another no less. A person like this would never be welcomed into the gypsy world; such a dishonorable man, and once she defeated Orochimaru, he would be were he belonged; on his knees.

"You have no honor. You're a fowl creature that needs to be wiped away." Naru spat out, "You'll be welcomed more in hell than here, Orochimaru."

"I don't plan on going there anytime soon, gypsy." The viper hissed as his tongue danced around his lips, "I do plan on making you suffer greatly and I'm going to have fun doing it."

Orochimaru's words sent shivers down her spine, but she had no time to pondered on them because the slithering snake charged at her; breaking her from her thoughts. A fist was flung in her direction which she blocks and counters with her own punch landing on the snake's jaw; knocking him back a few feet, but not really fazing him. A flying kick is delivered to the mid-section of the man causing Naru to stumble back a little as his turns it against her. 'Dammit!' thought the blond, 'His defenses are pretty good, but I believe I can beat him.'

"Are you surprise, little fox?" Orochimaru smirked, "I hope you didn't think that I was going to go easy on you just because you're a girl, but once I've beaten you, you'll know your place as my bed wench."

"I'll never warm your bed willingly, you damn bastard." The blond shuttered at the thought.

"So be it; unwillingly it is," he said smiling as he held out his hand; he blow a white powdery dust in the gypsy direction which flew into her air passage, causing her to draw in her breath and grab her throat, "I told you that I don't play fair, but I always get what I want, gypsy."

The powder now burned the blond's throat and her eyes watered causing her vision to blur. Her head spinning as her body became extremely heavy falling to the ground, but never touching the ground that was now stained with Kimimaro and Kabuto's blood beneath her because the viper had caught her in his lanky arms. She still could smell the brandy on his breath before she passes out.

When Naru woke, it was dark outside and the air had grown cooler with the passing hours. Her head pounded and her throat hurt as she tried to look around to see where she was; she realized she was on a large bed with white bedding surrounding her body. She tried moving about but soon found out that her hands were bound to the headboard of the bed. Panic races through her body as she remembers who she was fighting and the fear of what he intended to do her sicken her to no end, but the more she struggle to break her bonds the stronger and tighter they became. Naru stiffened as she heard the door to the room open and saw who stood in the door way…Orochimaru; he entered the room as if gliding on air and sat at the foot of the bed; staying a safe distance away from her untied legs.

"With your skirt riding up your legs like that," the snake hissed sensually, "it makes me so hard. I just want to ravish your innocence little body."

"You'll not lay a finger on me without a fight, bastard!" Naru said as she struggled in her restrains, "You'll have to kill me first!"

"Oh, dear girl," Orochimaru hissed, "I like for all my playthings to fight; it makes it more fun breaking them."

"Touch me and I will kill you, bastard!" Naru snarled at the snake, "I'll make sure you're dead before you hit the floor!"

"Brave words from such a captivating gypsy girl," Orochimaru smirked as he stands and walks over to the head of the bed, "but you're not just any gypsy are you, princess?"

"…" Naru glares at the sinister looking man, "…"

"You need not speak," he whispered as he leans down and touched her flawless cheek, "I would know that lovely face anywhere; Namikaze-Uzumaki Naru, princess of the 2nd tribe to _**The High Council of the Gypsy Order.**_"

"…" Naru's eyes slightly flickered as the man revealed her life, "…"

"Surprised princess that someone such as my self knows about gypsy affairs, well after all…I am a gypsy prince, sent to leave in the world with those filthy villagers that killed many of your fellow gypsies." he said as he hissed his distaste for the villagers, "I mean really on the night your sister was killed; I saw what they did to her, but the council's orders are absolute…Do not interfere."

"You son of a dirty bitch! You just stood by while they did those horrible things to Sakura!" Naru cried, "I'll kill you!"

"Sakura's screams were so pitiful as those evil men ripped her virginity from her then her life," Orochimaru sighed as he remembers the event as though it just happened, "and my orders are to do the same to you over the next few days; they want me to break your body, then I'm suppose to break your spirit; to make you suffer greatly. There will be no quick death for you, no matter how much you beg for it; death will not come so easily for you, princess."

"Monster!" Naru scream at the serpent, "You'll pay with your life, I'll see to that!"

"It's a shame to break such a fighting spirit," Orochimaru chuckled, "but the council has deem you a threat to their way of life. You're a freethinking female; you are dangerous to their plans."

With that said he takes out the dagger he used to kill his comrades with and slides it across Naru's cheeks causing red markings to appear on sun kissed skin. The gypsy closes her eyes to absorb the stinging pain the blade leaves behind; a single tear slips down her now blood stained face as three scars on each side replace once flawless skin.

"You'll never break me…I will never scream for you…" she panted, "Hell will freeze over first, before I'd let my self be broken by the likes of you…"

"We shall see, my dear princess." He said as his long hair cascaded down his shoulders, "We shall see."

Cupping Naru's chin, Orochimaru take his thumb and smears the blood across her cheek; pulling his hand away he licks and tastes her life support on his thumb; never had he ever tasted such sweetness. There was something different about her blood; something more innocence and alluring; this gypsy girl was truly special and he was going to make this flower his.

Grabbing Naru's ankles, the serpent stilled her kicking legs as he slid in between them. The blond tensed as she felt Orochimaru rub his covered manhood against her virginal womanhood; it was rock hard and pulsating against her innocence. The fiend licked the supple flesh of her neck; smiling as Naru shivered under his long wet tongue.

"I hope you burn in hell…" Naru said glaring at he man on top of her.

"As long as I get to do this to you before I go," Orochimaru hissed seductively, "then I don't rightfully care, gypsy flower."

Orochimaru smiled an eerie smile that send shivers all over the blond's body as he ripped open her blouse revealing supple breast. His hand then with under her skirt and yanked her panties from her body. The dark haired man then slipped his fingers in between her legs; teasing her until she had become slippery and wet from him fondling her innocence hole.

"You're so wet just from me playing with you, Naru." Orochimaru teased the blond, "I know I'm the first man to ever touch you; I'll make sure you never forget."

"You…son of…a bitch," Naru squirmed under his body, "I make sure to never forget your screams as you lay dying in your own blood; I'll savor the sight of the light leaving your yellow eyes; I'll take pleasure in watching your soul being sucked from your body as the ones have died at your hands drag you to hell."

With that, the snake demon smirked and unzipped his pants and placing the head of his large cock against her wet entrance; he receives a shiver from the gypsy flower. With no warning he slams full force all the way into Naru's innocence, ripping her in two.

"!" Naru opens her mouth, but there is no sound, just a painful expression that is accompanied by tears that slid down her blood stained cheeks.

"Come on and scream, gypsy flower." Orochimaru panted as he continued to pound into her tight bloody hole, "I want to hear that siren voice of yours. I want you to moan in pain; in pleasure, Naru."

Naru wanted to scream, she wanted to scream so badly. The blond had felt pain before, but never inside pain deep within her body; yes, she wanted to scream her head off, but the only pleasure she would give Orochimaru were the tears he had caused her from the excruciating pain of him ripping her innocence away. The gypsy princess was of nobility and she would not let this serpent take pride in making her cry out in pain.

"You're a dirty spot on the soul of humanity," she wringed out, "and you'll never receive such a thing from me."

Orochimaru stopped and reached for the dagger that he had used to cut her face; his sinister yellow eyes watched as the blond stiffened in her restrains as the dagger he held glided across her naked chest, coming to rest at her perked nipple. Orochimaru bends down and takes the ripe bud in his mouth; running his long tongue over the sensitive bump and then the other one, making the young girl bite her bottom lip to keep from whimpering. Her body was slowly trying to betray her, but Naru's resolve stood strong against the sexual assault even though here body was getting tired; he was not going to get her that easily. Orochimaru takes the dagger and suddenly slashes his hand open; letting the blood drip on her skin and onto the gypsy's mouth, but never spilling passed her lips. Sucking the blood from his own hand, Orochimaru bends down and kisses Naru; trying to force the liquid inside her mouth. Smirking into the kiss, he rams his hard cock back inside her which causes her to gasp and letting the copper tasting fluid seep in; she gags on the taste, but can not spit it out due to the viper's mouth covering her own. Naru swallows the fowl tasting liquid and becomes sick to her stomach.

"You may not scream for me in bed," Orochimaru panted as he withdrew from the kiss, "but you will scream when the next moon rises and there after, gypsy princess. I've passed a part of myself on to you; which you'll never be rid of _**until silver crosses your heart on the night of a blood moon**_."

"Drop…dead…" She coughed and gagged, "You're a sick bastard, Orochimaru."

"I'm the way I am for a reason, Naru." He huffed as he pulled out; only to move to her other untouched hole which he plowed into with out preparing her; tearing her open yet again, "I want you to remember everything about tonight."

Naru bit her lip so hard that it started to bleed; her body arching off the bed in pain. The blond cried tears of sorrow as the man ravaged her body; biting, sucking, clawing, and digging his sharp nails into delicate flesh all the way whispering what seemed like nonsense into Naru's ears. The pain had become so intense that the blond knew she would not be conscious much longer. The strong sense of blood filled the room; making her nauseous. 'How much more could my body take from such a violent attack?' she wondered as her vision and mind became a blur, 'This pain is beyond anything I've felt before.'

The attack went on for more than two hour, and when she was about ready to give end, Orochimaru starts to reach his final descend into lust and ecstasy. He moans and begins to thrust harder and faster, causing the blond too finally pass out from the unwanted sexually attack.

"Mmmm…Aaahh! I'm…coming!" he said riding his unconscious victim deeper into the bed. Pulling out; her returns to her wet and bloody vagina; thrusting his hot rod deep in the passed out beauty; he releases his hot boiling seed inside her, "Aaahh…Nuh…Naru!"

Once Orochimaru had come down from his orgasmic high, he carries the blond into the large bathroom and runs a bath for the both of them. Placing her in the tub, he washes away any traces of the prior events that had occurred over the last couple of hours. After he had thoroughly cleaned him self and the gypsy flower, he puts a white gown on the princess and silk bottoms on himself and lays the beauty to rest on fresh clean linen. Crawling in beside her, he wraps his arm around her tiny waist and kisses the back of her head.

"I'm sorry princess for everything." Orochimaru said in a hushed voice.

_**Dreams are what you make of them; whether they are nightmares, fantasy, or prophecy; but whatever they are one must keep telling themselves it's just a dream…right?**_

Howling lashed out under a moonlit night; as a bloodlust unsatisfied by no amount of killing tore open the ground; screams from the villagers as they ran into the night only to be slaughter by what was in the darkness. Their ignorant ways and superstitious beliefs were their own undoing. Even the lustful priest fell dead at the creature's feet; no amount of praying was going to save such sinful souls; not these evil and wicked beings that harmed the innocent and preyed upon the weak and helpless; for tonight god would not be there to help them; for the prince of the underworld had come to take what was his, back to hell…

Sparkling blue eyes shot open; tears streamed out and down her healed cheeks as she trembles from the horrid dream. Who was killing all those people? Was she the one with the unbridled bloodlust or was she seeing it through the eyes of a demon that had possessed her dreams? Whatever it was it scared the hell out of her; she had not had dreams like that since she was a small child.

Naru's body ached and her mind was full of images that she did not understand at the time. She tried to get up but could not move; there was something holding her in the bed or rather someone's long pale arm wrapped around her waist; Orochimaru!

"No. A curse…a curse to run in the night…I…I've been…" Naru whispered as tears rolled down her scarred soft and newly healed cheeks, "I've been _**cursed**_."

"Not a curse; a gift." a voice said behind her, "Naru you were chosen to carry on a unique bloodline."

"Why?" Naru asked as her body trembled in his arms, "Why did you curse me? Was it not enough to rape me; to torment me with the memories of Sakura, but now…now I have been cursed…with this unwanted bloodline?"

"You should not look at it like that," replied Orochimaru, "instead think of it as a gift that the council will fear."

"My father is…" Naru started, but was cut off by Orochimaru.

"Your father is a puppet who is having his strings pulled by the council." The yellow eyed man groaned, "He must follow orders that are absolute; no deterring; not even for his family."

"He would not let anything like that happen to his family." She said with uncertainty dangling in her voice, "I-It can't be; it's not possible."

"But it is, Naru. Think about it." Orochimaru replied into the blond's ear, "The attacks were not just random attacks, but ordered by the higher powers that govern the world of the gypsy and the world of the villagers."

"I-I going to be sick…" Naru said cupping her mouth, "I n-need some air, please."

Helping her up, Orochimaru led the blond to a large balcony over looking a beautiful garden full of marigolds just like the ones in the field from earlier; their scent filled the night air with a heavenly aroma.

"They are beautiful just like the ones from the open field." Naru sniffed the air, "They smell stronger than usual."

"That is because of the blood that courses through your veils," Orochimaru stated, "it enhances all your senses five times their usual abilities."

'His blood is that powerful?' the blond wondered to herself, 'Why would someone so powerful be sent to live amongst the people that hate us so much?'

"I was considered an abomination in the eyes of the council." The man said as if reading her thoughts, "My family's bloodline was from a rare lineage; they could summon the _**prince of the forest **_and take on his form. They were the most powerful tribes at one time, but the elders felt threaten by such power. So my entire tribe was wipe out; I only escaped such a fate because they thought that they could control me better than the other members of my tribe because I was so young; so easily influenced, but they were wrong. My spirit is free to run among the wilds of the world; no one can control me; no one except you, Naru.

"What? Me? How?" her mind fumbled to make sense of everything, "Why would I want to control you?"

"You see what others do not, Naru." Orochimaru smiled kindly at the blond, "You see hope when there is only despair; you see light when there is only darkness; you see happiness when others only see sorrow; you see beyond what is in front of you; a future; a tomorrow, and the council knows that makes you a threat. You're unpredictable; which is dangerous to their beliefs."

All the anger that Naru was once feeling had just disappeared only to be replaced with a deep sadness for the pale man beside her. Why could she not be upset with him? It was not fair for her feelings to act one way then another. Naru's anger had been aimed at the man, who had orders to break her spirit anyway necessary, but he had stopped when you could have continued to rape and torture her body; was there something else behind the man's methods? Was he telling the truth about the council? He knew way too much to not be and the anger and sorrow she felt from Orochimaru as he told his story was heart felt, but it was so much to take in at one time.

Turning to leave, the blond felt her head spinning and stumbles forward only to be caught by the dark haired man. Naru stiffens as strong arms embrace her small body, she inhales his scent of musk and sandalwood; for some reason it is alluring. Why was she suddenly feeling a strong attraction to this man? 'He just raped me and tortured me a few hours ago.' She thought, 'Did he drug me with some kind of concoction after I passed out?'

"No, I didn't drug you," Orochimaru said reading her expression, "it's a side effect of my blood. We have become one; feeling what the other feels; knowing what the other knows; seeing what the other can see. You will see my past and I will see yours; even to what has happened in the past few hours. Your pain is mine and mine is yours, _**until silver crosses your heart on the night of a blood moon**_."

Over time the hate she had for the man slowly diminished, replaced by understanding and love. Seeing the world for what it was through someone else's eyes and coming to terms that her whole life had been a sham; that her father and mother had send Orochimaru to find her that day and claim her for his own to protect her from the council, and because of their actions, they paid a high price for their disobedience; they were killed. Pein and Kyuubi escaped and still to this day their whereabouts is unknown to anyone, even Naru.

Years passed as Naru's love for Orochimaru grew stronger; she understood the love her mama had for her papa, and why she loved the blond haired man so much. The man protected her just like her father protected her mother; he was loyal, brave, and a born leader; gathering many that had been done wrong by the council; creating a new tribe by passing his blood on to them, so that they too carried the unique bloodline; by January, Orochimaru had acquired over three hundred followers, and the tribe was growing larger due to the births of the new members.

In September of one of those years, Naru and Orochimaru had added to there family. Naru gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Sakura Aoi; after her sister. Aoi as they called her, looked like Naru except for her jet black hair and yellow eyes like her father, Orochimaru. As she grew, she was trained in everything from herbal remedies to learning to wielding a weapon; by both of her parents. At the age of seven she had already picked up her parent's protective ways; standing up for the other younger gypsies that were picked on by the villagers and outlaws that sometimes invaded that camps. Yes Aoi future as the gypsy leader to her tribe was bright, but fate has a way of destroying one's future, even a child as young as seven…

Well that it for now kids…It may seem a little out there, but I wanted to do something different with the characters as far as the supposedly monster (Orochimaru) showing his human side even if it's after what appears to be an act of cruelty…and don't worry, it's still going to be a somewhat SasuNaru fict; just not like the norm…if that's what you want, sorry. Anyway, Thank You all for reading my stories. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

**Rating: M for Mature Only**

**Warning: If you don't like don't read! All others enjoy thy self… ;)**

**A/N: Naru stopped aging after receiving Orochimaru's blood which happened 80 years ago; her memories are as fresh as if they happened yesterday, and yes the soldiers an villagers are still around because the world is govern by Supreme Law; which is ruled by fear, intolerance, hatred, and prejudice. **

_**Even the ones that spread the teachings of tolerance can still act like fowl demons in human form when they forget the lessons of love…**_

**Chapter 2**

Naru's smile had faded several moons ago. That dreadful night had taken it along with any happiness she had once had. Moonlit nights held memories as well as promises. Sometimes the sound of guns reached her through the blue-black fastness of the pine-woods. Even though the distant guns could do her no harm, she would run from the sound, run as no ordinary human could run. Her memories chased after, hunting her to the ends of the earth.

Somewhere…somewhere closer to the guns there were soldiers-men who did worse to

Gypsy tribes than simply telling them to move on. They were hunters send out to destroy any and all who opposed the Supreme Law of the Land. When Naru opened her mind to search for others of her tribe, a clawing dream of barbed-wire fences crackled through her brain, though she could still sense a faint ghost of their warmth; their music; their love for her as she was.

Some nights the dream would explode wide open with terrible pain, run red, and died to the color of ashes. Now…now Naru ran the woods alone; her tribe had been scattered.

'_We never imaged such horrible things could exist among humans.' _she thought to her self, _'Men still in the shape of men who could do such unspeakable things…And the villagers did not fear them-not as they feared us. They welcome such filth into their homes! The villagers have turned into a pack of hunting mongrels, serving those dirty bastards.'_

Ghosts whose bodies never rested in the silent cemetery came creeping into Naru's mind, ghosts who were now ashes upon the wind. Why had _**she**_ been the one to survive that unfortunate night? She had been roaming the forest, hunting as she had to hunt when the urge grew too great for Orochimaru's words to control. He had let her go, because she was still learning to control the bloodlust. Orochimaru understood for he once was the same in the beginning; Orochimaru, her beloved mate. And while she was gone…while she was gone, those bastards came...on the night of a blood moon, bringing silver to place over his and Aoi's hearts to paralyze them.

In Naru's mind, she saw it often as she, Aoi, and Orochimaru were one; it always played out as a horrible dream, but a dream one could never wake from. Her family cornered by those men in thick black coats, their heavy army boots; men led to their camp by blunt-faced villagers who understood so little and hated so much. Villagers' faces seemed to shape shift across the campfire-eyes grew small, muzzles lengthened, gaped mouths with red tongues dangling in a dog's idiotic delight in the kill, the kill, the kill! Those fools served their military masters well, those filthy hounds.

_Orochimaru…and Aoi. You fought back, and they killed you where you stood; killed her too when she defended you. She stood up to those bastards; she was only a child…my child, and still they killed her. My heart has ached some many nights since then; not once have I smiled like I did before. They have taken the ones most precious to me, yet I can not kill the ignorant villages that betrayed our tribe for some pieces of gold...I will be in Hell with them for I can not avenge you as I once promised. Your spirits may never find peace...Please forgive me._

Something stirs among the tombstones near the heavy gates, snapping Naru from her painful memories. She saw it, a bobbing fleck of black glimpsed against white and silver. She cast sharp eyes at the cemetery gate. It stood unmoved, snow crusted on the bars and lock. No footprints disturbed the snow, no prints at all.

Naru measured the height of the cemetery's wall, the way a king might measure the strength of his castle. Had the invader came in over the wall, then? It must be, though the wall was higher than a tall man's head. There was no other way in, not even for Naru. Anyone who climbed that wall in this god awful weather must be a real fool.

Fools did not live long in this wasteland. A hero, maybe, who had detected Naru's presence somehow and meant to make a name for himself in the village? A hero who lacked the key to the cemetery, yet was too bold to let that stop him? Naru spat. That would demand too much spirit. Those village dogs did not have the blood to sire such creatures; none greater than their own nearsighted souls. A criminal? Yes, that would be a more likely begetting for them; a fugitive from the village on the run might come here, seeking a hiding place, desperate….

Naru knew all too well what desperation meant. She tensed, ready to fight if she had to. She felt the familiar strength of her bloodline gathering itself in her veins and limbs, held in check by the ancient words Orochimaru had spoken over her many times, answerable at last to her will, and not the whim of the night sky. Silently she leaped to the top of the cold snow covered wall and lay flat, waiting. The rough surface sent chills through her skin. The shape among the tombstones came closer.

A tall slim frame appeared from the shadows; a young man.

The man kept to the paths between the grave markers where the snow had been swept away and no new snow had fallen to reclaim the ground. Panting and stumbling, he threw himself gently down across a rising mound of earth, his head resting against an oddly titled tombstone. Naru could have laughed aloud with relief.

"You choose a strange place for a bed, kindred brother." Naru said as she dropped from the wall on two feet, trying not to grin as he jerked up, startled. All the tension left his body. This man seemed younger up close! Here was nothing to fear. No not here among the dead; it was in the village among the living that one should fear. "Run home. Your mother would tell you that this is no safe place to be at night."

The young man looked a little older than sixteen, all arms and legs, so like Naru's lost brothers; Pein and Kyuubi. His hair was so black, it had a blue tint to it, and his eyes were the color of midnight which against his skin appeared dead white in the moonlight.

_Hungry, _Naru thought, _I know the face of hunger. _"Who are you?" The young raven's demand caught Naru off guard by its very boldness. He recovered from his surprise quickly, and now confronted the gypsy flower with a kind of sullen courage.

Naru shook her head in wonder. _So these dogs do hold some spark in them after all. Or perhaps it is only the blind bravery of someone so young. Already he plays at being a man. A real man would know better. A real man would __**know me**__, run for help run to tell the village where I am. __**And I would kill such a man.**_

"Who am I?" Naru grinned. "As you can see, I am only a poor gypsy; a wanderer. I sleep with the dead because I find them more hospitable than the living damned. Who would give me a roof in your village? Not even where they keep the livestock. Let a Gypsy in by night, say farewell to all you own by morning." She gracefully bowed. "My name is Namikaze-Uzumaki Naru. I'm sorry if I've trespassed too much on the goodwill of your village by staying here."

The raven's smoky brows drew together, "This is not my village."

"No? There's not another one for miles."

"I have been traveling for a very long time, and from afar."

"You come so lightly dress for such traveling." It was true; the young man had no coat, and his boots looked worn.

"The same as you, traveling flower," The dark haired man replied, "your garments are no heavier than mine."

"Ah! We Gypsies are used to going half naked all our lives. You're no Gypsy, though you have the look-"

"I am no Gypsy." The raven's mouth, red as a young maiden's, quirked up slightly. "These are not good times for Gypsies…or for others."

"Others…?" Naru studied the raven thoroughly, her eyelids half lowered. Pretending to look at nothing, she saw everything. The raven's strange shirt was opened at the throat, in spite of the bitter cold. The people of the village-the people who lived throughout most of this winter land of mountain and forest- were faithful to the symbols of their religion. Boys, girls, women, men, infants, even the dead in their coffins, all wore the cross around their necks. The poorest of the villagers carved one from the wood of an old falling tree and hung it about their throat hoping to ward off evil.

_The ones who brought those horrid soldiers down on my family; my tribe, they too wore the cross. And the soldiers themselves wore the twisted cross on their arms, on their shoulders. They wore the cross, and they killed Orochimaru and our innocent Aoi. They wore it and they took the others away to die. They twist the cross as they twist the cross's meaning every time they dare drape it around their necks. Even when they bathe the cross in the blood of the innocence, they wear it. Do they expect to find salvation for their sins? Yet this midnight eyed man wears none._

_The Gypsies are not the only ones they take to the camps to rape, torture, and murder._

To break the awful silence of her thoughts, Naru spoke aloud, "Well, good times or bad, we are safe here. The war is moving away from this land-I can tell by the sound of the guns when I hear them—and the soldiers will go with the war. The villagers are less brave against your people and mine without the soldier dogs around."

"Don't be so sure," the raven replied as his face became grimmer. "The _**hounds**_ of the military tend to hunt in packs; they are advancing as we speak, but the advance may be stopped. When they retreat, they will come this way again. You can never tell…"

Naru laughed, "We will still be safe here, kindred brother. The hounds would rather spend time their time making new graveyards than searching old ones. And I often heard that you Meridian do not care to linger too long in cemeteries either. You avoid them. No one will expect to find a Gypsy hiding here with a Meridian."

"A Meridian?" The raven was perplexed.

"It is easy to tell, even for me. Some signs can only mean one thing. I can see you are a Meridian as well as you can tell that I am a Rom Gypsy. More than that"- Naru smiled and spread her delicate hands- "we know nothing of each other; I don't even know your name. The one thing I do know is that the hounds want to kill us both, and that we will not let them."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," the raven said closing his tired eyes, "and the mongrels too think that they can tell for certain who is a Meridian, just by looking, but I always thought those hounds were easier to fool than-"

Blinding light cut across the moon's path of white shimmer. A line of black shadows came twisting up the snowy foot trail from the village. Naru stiffened, seeing their slow procession approach, dark specks weaving a distant pattern against the bars of the graveyard's gate.

Naru grabs Sasuke's arm and with the strength of some one three times her size, she hauled the raven to his feet, yanking him from the grave-mound still smooth with snow. "I heard no bells to mark a death in the village, and what I don't hear never happened. Why do they come here tonight?" she snarled looking up at the young man as her grip tightens to a bone crushing hold on his arm.

"_**Why?"**_ Naru whispered fiercely; her grip tightened and her once sparkling blues turned a fiery red; piercing the young man's own dark orbs.

"First I am Meridian, and now a traitorous goat." The raven's smile was grim and too old for his years. He wrenched free Naru's grasp with astonishing ease which surprised the blond to say the least. "Yes, it is as you think: they come here because of me; but they come because they are looking for me, not because I wanted them to follow. Those villagers caught me by surprise, in the village. My hunger was too great, I had traveled too far already this night, and I was not cautious. They came with their priest, and he sprinkled _**holy water**_ over me where I stood."

"The intolerant bastard! Did he want to baptize you before he betrayed you?" Naru spat as she stared in the direction of the approaching mob. She had encountered such ignorance in her long life as well. _**Even the ones that spread the teachings of love and tolerance are still fowl demons in human form…**_

"If I were not so weak from hunger, I might have escaped them before hand." Sasuke spoke weakly.

"Come, we will escape now." Naru tried to drag the raven away from the gate. Flashlights and lanterns blazed through the night making golden halos around the hunters. The Gypsy recognized the hated military hounds' uniforms. The sound of the far-off guns had meant nothing; the men of the twisted cross might be anywhere after all. The black robe of the priest showed among the villagers who came following the soldiers. The old fear flapped from the folds of the black robe into Naru's heart, and she tugged urgently at the raven's shoulder. "Hurry! Come now. I will help you back over the wall."

"No. You go." The young man sank down to the snow again. "I can't run anymore." Sasuke tilted his head back and closed his eyes. His throat was a silver curve, only slightly marred by dirt. Naru saw the droplets of holy water still clinging to his midnight colored hair. They looked almost froze, beads of ice and stars. Her eyes darted from Sasuke to the approaching lights and back. The line of people paused a few yards from the gate. She could see the officer's insignia on the leader's uniform, and she heard the man speak angrily to the priest.

"You aren't needed, I told you! Don't hamper us! If there's anyone hiding in there, we'll deal with him." The leader snapped at the priest.

"But you must have me with you! It was only thanks to me that he did not escape us." The priest said, "T-That black haired bastard is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord; he's the devil's spawn, and if he is…"

"Get out of here!" the officer ordered and shoved the other roughly, "And take your worthless superstitions with you! There's no such thing as monsters! You crazy fool!"

The cluster of light beyond the gate dwindled by one as the priest moved off with his lantern, grumbling his way back toward the village. Through the bars Naru counted three uniformed men and four stolid villagers, too many for her to take along and try to protect the weakened raven. Keys jingled, and then grated the iron lock.

"Hide, damn you, Sasuke!" Naru pulled the young man upright, felt dead weight of the lost of hope in her arms. She shook him hard, trying to wrench the life-will back into him. The raven's head snapped back and forth, and all the glittering droplets of water went flying. "I said _**hide**_!"

Sasuke's response was only a soft sigh and a smile. He had given up any hope of escaping the hounds, which now entered the gate.

The winter stiffened gate swung back on its old hinges and a beam of light sliced across Naru's tense face.

"Don't move." It was the officer. He strode stiffly toward the two fugitives, his gun a shiny black streak protruding from the shadow of his greatcoat sleeve. Naru shuddered to think of how the bullets would tear the raven apart. It…It would be like losing her loved ones all over again. Silently she swore that this time it would not happen. She was here this time…here as she had not been for her family…and she would die before she would let them kill the raven.

The other soldiers came a pace behind their leader, but the villagers lingered on the threshold of the graveyard.

"So this is what they build their legends around!" The officer snickered, seizing the dark haired man from Naru by his collar. He flung him to the waiting arms of his subordinates. "Get him out of here and hold him. Don't return to the village without me and if any of those jackasses" he indicated the four men standing outside the gate, "tries to run off, shoot them."

Whether or not the villagers understood the leader's language, the officer's cold grin spoke volumes and they understood very well. The soldiers took the raven with them from the graveyard, dragging him out of sight and around the curve of the high wall. The villagers followed after them like obedient dogs.

"So, what do we have here?" The officer came closer to Naru, still grinning and licking his lips. He eyed the gypsy flower with cold steel gray eyes; from head to toe, settling on her full breast and curvy hips. He probed the blond's eyes with his flashlight, trying to force a wince with the strength of the bright beam. Blue eyes streaked with red stared back into his, unblinking in the glare of the light. "Hmm, such a pretty gypsy to keep my bed warm at night. Do you know that black haired bastard?"

"His name is Sasuke and he belongs in the village." Naru's reply was soft, yet not submissive. The officer frowned.

"That's not the story of those superstitious fools. Not that I could believe their crazy tales either." The leader smirked with wandering eyes. "I will need to talk to you privately once we return to the village, little gypsy flower."

"I will not be going any where with a bastard like you." Naru snarled at the officer. A distant howl echoed from the pines. It left a trail of fire in Naru's brain. She felt herself shiver as the old strength leaped within, begging for freedom, only being reined back sharply by her will and her beloved Orochimaru's words of binding.

The officer saw nothing strange in that a woman so lightly dressed should tremble with the bitter cold. He spoke on, "You cuddled him to your bosom as if you know him; almost as if you're protecting, but he's not yours, is he? That leaves only one answer. The bastard's got a Meridian-look to him; so pale like that; I know them…Ah! So you agree?" he looked well satisfied with the worried frown that crossed Naru's face. "You marked him for a Meridian, too."

"I tell you, he is no more Meridian than I am!" Naru growled, "You're wrong about Sasuke."

The night cold vanished. Flames crept under Naru's tan skin. Her blood sang loud, hailed those whose shared, moon-blasted blood could hear such a summons. The howl came a second time, closer, and was joined by an answering call. Naru burned, her throat tightened, she was holding in the longing and the hunger. _Too many men, too many beyond the wall, and they had Sasuke. Wait...wait for help to come...for his sake, wait. Oh, but it hurts so much to wait!_

"Meridian or Gypsy, you'll end the same." A low wind dusted the cemetery path with snow, setting the forest branches to fearful whispering. The officer clutched Naru's arm, letting the flashlight fall. He needed no light, with the moon's cold gaze upon them. He prodded the Gypsy with the muzzle of his gun.

"Move. I'll need you to warm my bed tonight." The officer sneered into Naru's ear and liked licked her soft scarred cheek; this man made her sick to her stomach and she wanted to rip his beating heart from his chest, "Besides there's a storm coming, these country dolts will be hearing ghosts on every blast of wind; causing them to run for their miserable lives."

"Let go of me!" Naru pulled herself from the man's grip as easily as breaking an infant's hold. Her muscles stretched, singing with the wind. "I am going nowhere with the likes of you. Neither is Sasuke."

Naru stood against the silver light, a lot taller than her small frame appeared and darker than any shadow could be; as the call came rising from deep within her bones. The wind fell, but the howling mounted the dark arch of the December sky. From beyond the wall came a panicked babble of voices, the sound of feet pounding clumsily through heavy snow, and a single gunshot, then silence.

The officer's smile glinted from inside his upturned coat collar. "Hear that, Gypsy? My men follow orders well. And I can do the same if you defy me once more." He brought his face within inches of the Gypsy's now fiery red slanted eyes. "Maybe I can save the trouble of transporting you to a camp after I'm done with you. You'll only be good for relieving my built up tension; once that's over you will be of no use to me since you've told me nothing; you'll be useless afterwards. Maybe I shoot you, when you try to _**escape**_."

The pines roared suddenly with the strength of Naru's bloodsong. They would be breaking from the tree now, loping over the fields, running with the full moon that struck devil's gold from their eyes. She heard their mind's bright burst of joyful response to her summons and felt their hunger answer her own. The waiting was over. Steadily Naru met her captor's gaze.

"Shoot me." It was a dare and a command. Howls blazed across the once silent night. Gunshots cracked on both sides of the graveyard wall, screams of terror tore the darkness apart. Naru leaped, deaf to everything but the pounding blood of the _**Change**_, Blind to the horror frozen in the dying man's eyes as he pumped round after round of useless lead bullets into the body of the great white wolf. Fangs met blood under the moon.

The cruel officer lay still. The wolf raised her wet muzzle and reluctantly resumed the human-shape. There would be time enough later to savor taste of the kill. She must see to the raven.

Six bodies littered the once white snow beyond the cemetery gate. One lay some distance away, face down. Naru did not bother to look for what she knew she would find…The bullet in the back. The soldier who had shot the fleeing villager had almost done him a favor. The soldier himself had not met such a tidy finish; nor had the others. The prints of huge paws churned the bloody snow. Three shadows were already running back over the winter fields, seeking the safety of the dark forest. They never lingered in hunting grounds not their own.

The raven stood unharmed within a ring of death. The soldiers and the villagers' still bodies could harm no one else with their guns. They had become the newest residents of the cemetery; they now lay in a place were all were equal.

"The wolves…" his dark eyes were puzzled, yet showed no fear. Sasuke looked at Naru for an answer.

"I called them. I marked you as safe from them. They obey me. You had nothing to fear. I have two tribes, you see." Naru laughed, and threw her arms around the slim shoulders of the raven. It was like reclaiming a beloved ghost, that warm and loving embrace. _**This time, I did not let them have you!**_

"You are not afraid. That is good. Your people have a reputation for wisdom. You will need courage and wisdom both if you are to travel with me. I confess, I was worried for a while, kindred brother. There aren't many of my kind left alive in these parts. I thought they would not come in time, and if all these…" her hand swept the circle of bodies, "had not died at once, one might have escaped to fetch back the priest. These villagers are stupid and cruel, but they are frighteningly wise about some things."

"I know." Sasuke touched his hair, dry and free of the priest aspersion, the holy water. The raven nodded towards the cemetery. "And the other bastard did his sorry life end this night?"

"It was my pleasure to see to such filthy trash myself." Naru knelt to examine the tale told in the snow. She knew the identity of each pawmark's maker as an ordinary person recognizes their friend's signature. Abruptly she frowned and leaned closer. "This is wrong. I see the prints of four wolves, and one is not…"

Naru looked up into Sasuke's laughing face. All traces of hunger and weariness were gone, and red, red lips curved up into a gently sardonic smile. Naru felt the cold.

"I summoned only three…" Naru became very still, "My Lord."

"The fourth was a true wolf…my servant. Naru, you are a kind and caring gypsy flower. We share some qualities, our two peoples; we may call upon the prince of the forest, you and I, but so differently! I command all, and they obey because they must. You call only to those who share your curse, your blessing of two skins, and they obey out of love. I envy you that bond. It almost makes me regret that I am unable to travel with you as you offer. Still, I will recall your kindness forever, Naru, mate to Orochimaru and mother of Aoi, loyal to all; my folk, of all night's children, truly knows what _**forever**_ means. Lift your head dear child and walk proudly for you have given me something I have not had in over two centuries; someone to call friend. Thank you."

The raven lord smiled and bowed to Naru, and by the light of the waning moon, the Gypsy saw Sasuke's lips part, the sharp, bloodstained teeth shining even as he straighten his thin body and spread himself on the wind in trailing strands of mist. It rose in a smoky spiral against the silvered sky, stretched black, leathery wings, and flew away calling to all of night's children; singing the praises of the beautiful golden haired Gypsy that save the Lord of the night.

"Good-bye my Lord Sasuke. We will meet again in another lifetime." Naru smiled as she left the cemetery. "After all we are kindred spirits."

;) Well that's it kids…Thank you for reading. Please review, it helps me to do better with future stories. Oh yeah… my computer is having **moments**, so if you don't see any new fiction, please be patience; I will be posting future ficts, but not as often. **SORRY!**


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